Lifeguard guilty of manslaughter of British schoolgirl Jessica Lawson, 12, after she drowned on French school trip

A FRENCH lifeguard has been found guilty of manslaughter of a Brit schoolgirl who drowned during a school trip to France.

Jessica Lawson, 12, from East Yorkshire, died after a plastic pontoon in a lake near Limoges overturned in July 2015.

PA

Jessica Lawson from East Yorkshire died after a plastic pontoon in a lake near Limoges overturned in July 2015[/caption]

Judges today at the city’s Appeal Court ruled swimming supervisor Leo Lemaire, 30, was criminally responsible for the “manslaughter through a clearly deliberate violation of an obligation of providing safety or prudence”.

The panel criticised Lemaire – who had denied any wrongdoing – for his “lack of vigilance” on the day of the tragedy.

Lemaire was sentenced to eight months in prison – all suspended – while the council in the French town where the tragedy happened was fined £17,000.

And they said the local council was particularly negligent in not putting up signs “warning of the dangers of swimming off the pontoon”.

Both Lemaire and the council were ordered to jointly pay damages to Jessica’s parents, Tony and Brenda Lawson, who now live in Portugal.

A criminal prosecution originally followed Jessica’s death.

However, in October 2022, teachers Chantelle Lewis, Daisy Stathers and Steven Layne – all from Wolfreton School, near Hull, which Jessica attended – were acquitted on charges of manslaughter caused by gross negligence.

So too was Lemaire, who was on duty at the time of the accident in the Liginiac Lake.

This led to Jessica’s devastated family complaining about the verdict, saying they wanted someone to be held responsible for her death.

A new trial was held at the Limoges Court of Appeal between May 30 and 31 this year, which Jessica’s parents attended.

Confirming Wednesday’s verdict, a court spokesman said the original acquittals of Lemaire and the local authority, were reversed, while all the teachers were again found “not guilty”.

During the trial, Lemaire insisted that he was used to seeing the orange pontoon overturn, and it was not considered dangerous.

He told the court: “I grew up right next to this stretch of water.

“I can’t count the number of times I went there and saw the platform turn over with swimmers on top of it, and there was never an accident.”

The original trial, held in Tulle, heard how Jessica – the youngest pupil in the school party – was hit on the head when the pontoon flipped over.

She was rescued from beneath the float by the lifeguard and then airlifted to a hospital in Limoges, but medics could not save her.

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